Monday, May 20, 2013

This year's Bay to Breakers is now complete and was one of the best I have experienced. Not so much because of the SFO race organization (there have been better years when there still was a Footstock afterparty at the polo fields), but because my running club, the RATS - Run Around Town Sundays, participated in full!

Me and my running partner Richard founded the club in January of this year. We spend time and care putting the club together, and with our literal sweat and tears, we are now 80+ members strong, with a core group of 25 that show up regularly. Our club is unique in that we focus on both beginners and advanced runners, with the emphasis on fun, not speed. With fun being the biggest priority, we can accomodate all ages, abilities, and those with injuries. I, myself, had major hip surgery and will never run faster than 11 minute miles, and often will run slower. When founding the club, one of our stated goals was to get a group to run the B2B - Success!!!

If you are not familiar with B2B, it is a San Francisco tradition, 102 years old, a 12K foot race run from the Bay (under the Bay bridge) to the Breakers (Ocean Beach). There are real runners (winners from Ethiopia this year) who execute this race in 35 minutes, there are joggers (like myself) who run this in 1:30:00, and there are walkers in crazy costumes (taking up to 4.5 hours).

As you can see, our club was 17 runners strong (not all are in the photos), in our adorable club tee shirt, some with ears and tails and tutus. After the race we all had beers at the Beach Chalet. Six of us then "Salmoned" the race route back to the beginning, making this a 15 mile run. With the beer break, I would call this a Ragnar Race training day, two back-to-back 7.5 mile runs in the same day! As the last photo demonstrates, we look pretty fresh after 15 miles!

Friday, May 17, 2013

So I needed new trail shoes for the summer season. I wanted to get fancy, try something high tech. I ordered the new Pearl Izumi EM Trail N1 on Zappos, in size 10. When they arrived it was obvious they were way too long, to big. So I returned/exchanged them for a half size smaller, 9.5. I test drove those puppies on a 12 mile trail run on Grizzly Peak. Bad news. They suck.

The shoes are too heavy and too narrow. The tread is fine, but the soles are way thick. I cannot feel the trail. They Are being promoted as minimal, but IMHO these are not minimal. I never blister on this trail, and my feet were very blistered with these shoes.

I returned/exchanged them for another pair of New Balance MT110. No blisters! Wide enough for my Hobbit sized feet!